This shouldn't be legal...

I went to purchase my train tickets from Paris to St.-Jean-Pied-du-Port yesterday and stumbled upon an interesting discovery. Depending on where your credit card billing address is, there are different rates for the EXACT same thing.

Purchased with a French billing address: 68.6 Euros ($97.87)
Purchased with a English billing address: 66 Pounds ($109.05)
Purchased with a United States billing address: $167

Just doesn't seem right.

P.s. purchasing it there doesn't help. These are prices on the 10+-day advance ticket.

UPDATE: Only the UK site checks your billing address. I was able (after much labored translation and then help from a French-speaking Canadian) to make the purchase on the French site: 68.60 Euros. Score.

Time out!

My left leg is a lot sore. It feels ok after walking for 10 minutes, but with more than 2 months left before I leave, I'm going to use this injury as an opportunity to take a week break from training physically. That doesn't mean I'll stop training mentally or planning!

If anyone's a physician, physical therapist, or knows a bunch about anatomy and physiology...I have muscle/tendon/ligament soreness on the back of my knee towards the inside. If you bend your knee 90 degrees and feel along the back, you'll feel a few stiffer "bits." Ligaments maybe? The inside one on my left knee hurts. It doesn't hurt when I don't bother it and it's not terrible. I can easily bear weight on it and walk fine, but I definitely can feel it. I figure ice, ibuprofen, and rest are in order until at least the weekend.

Packing Trial

I decided to throw some things in the backpack I'm bringing. I wanted to get an idea of volume and weight. I have a Osprey Kestrel backpack that's 48L. With all my clothing for the trip in it (and a few other random items), but notably without food, water, my toiletries, camera, phone, or a pair of spare AA batteries, the bag weighed in at only 12.2 lbs with PLENTY of room to spare if I let out the side straps. If 10% of my bodyweight (175 lbs) is the benchmark, I think I'll do just fine coming in under that.

Included in the 12.2 lbs:
2 pairs of liner socks
2 pairs of outer socks
2 pairs of underwear
1 pair of shorts
1 pair of zip-off legs off my convertible pants (that I was wearing)
2 t-shirts (the wicking variety...there's NO cotton going with me on this trip)
1 fleece jacket
1 softshell jacket
1 rain jacket
1 pair of rain pants
1 travel towel
1 solar battery charger
2 AA batteries
1 flashlight
1 sleeping bag
1 dry sack (to bring valuables into the shower with me)
1 rain cover (for the backpack)

I want the extra space because I'll be sending some street clothes and shoes ahead to Madrid for kicking around Europe with any time I have left after El Camino and before I have to head back to the States.

Temperatures/Rainfall in October

Here are the average temperatures (in Fahrenheit) and rainfall amounts (in inches) for October in various cities along the way:

	Average	High	Low	Rainfall	Rainy Days
Pamplona	56.5	65.7	47.1	2.9	8
Logrono	57.4	66.7	48.0	1.2	6
Burgos	51.6	61.7	41.5	2.0	8
Leon	52.5	61.5	43.5	2.2	8
Ponferrada	55.2	64.0	46.2	2.9	9
Santiago	56.1	63.9	48.4	7.6	13

Comfortable walking weather me thinks!

FAQ: How many pilgrims are there?

This page shows statistics on how many pilgrims complete El Camino on a month-by-month basis. The site is in German, but it's easy to figure out what's what. The years 1993, 1999, and 2004 (and next year in 2010) are Holy Year's with the Feast of St. James (July 25) falling on a Sunday, explaining the large number of pilgrims in those years. Also note that these numbers represent all pilgrims coming from all directions and all starting points, not just the Camino Frances route from St.-Jean-Pied-de-Port that I'll be taking, though that is the most popular.

What does this mean for me? Clearly, the number of people completing El Camino is increasing rapidly, but with a finish at the very end of October, it shouldn't be very crowded at all. Although there are fewer pilgrims competing for beds in the albergues, some of them might be closed with the slowness of the season. It also means that part of the reason the numbers are lower is due to weather: more warm clothes = more weight to carry.

First donation!

I received notification that an anonymous donor has donated $100 to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention through my page. THANK YOU. It means a lot to me and to the AFSP. Hopefully that's the impetus necessary to get more people to give for a very worthwhile cause.

On a completely different note, someone informed me that the comments on my blog weren't being accepted. I've fixed that. I have no idea how long they've been down. Sorry about that!

Reality sets in.

I bought my plane ticket. That makes it as real as it's going to get short of actually leaving. With this reality comes excitement and trepidation. I walked 15 miles yesterday. It went well, but I'm really tired today. How I'm going to average 15 miles day after day has yet to be seen. I guess once I get out there, I won't really have any choice.

Here's a neat map of nearly my exact route. Click on the "Roncesvalles" link on the right to display that city on the map. This map starts in Roncesvalles, Spain which is actually one day into my actual route. I'll be starting in St.-Jean-Pied-de-Port in France, 15 miles and 4,000 vertical feet of climbing away to the northeast.